The Virginia Department of Transportation is still working to clear icy roads today as the work week begins and commuters reappear on the road. VDOT workers warned that as temperatures dropped overnight, morning road conditions could become dangerous with an increase of black ice on the road.

The department said that most interstate roads were passable by Sunday evening, but that bridges and overpasses remained slick. The pre-dawn wintry storm which hit Saturday left many localities across the Peninsula and south of the James River with more than 8 inches of snow.

Crews continued to plow snow and treat road surfaces with sand. Lauren Hansen, a spokeswoman for VDOT said that motorists should delay their morning commutes if at all possible today. Hansen said that travelers who are commuting before dawn need to drive slow, below the speed limit and be especially cautious in areas that may contain black ice. "It's hard to detect because it looks like wet pavement," Hansen said.

Many subdivision and secondary roads have not been treated yet. Sunday afternoon areas of Mercury Boulevard in Hampton and Denbigh Boulevard in Newport News were especially slick. Hansen said there was a possibility that slush which formed on the road when the temperature rose Sunday afternoon may freeze, adding to hazardous conditions. Temperatures today are supposed to peak at 36 degrees, with an overnight low of 27 degrees, according to Vanessa Murdock, a meteorologist with WTKR.

Virginia State Police said there were no fatalities on the interstate this weekend as a result of the storm but there were a large number of car accidents.

Overall, state police responded to more than 1,749 traffic crashes statewide and several hundred in the Hampton Roads area.

Hampton Roads Transit service was shut down on the Peninsula Sunday. "We're going to coordinate with VDOT officials to see whether or not we'll be able to open for service Monday," said Tom Holden, a spokesman for the transit service. "We have a difficult call to make. It's going to be challenge even if we go forward because there is plenty of ice out there," Holden said.

Ken Spirito, executive director of Newport News-Williamsburg International Airport said that the airport had several flight cancellations Sunday but that none should be expected today. He said that passengers should allow extra time to travel to the airport and should be cautious when walking through the airports parking lot. "Certainly they need to check with the airline," Spirito said. "The planes are going to be full."

Dominion Virginia Power said that power outages had been minor as a result of the wintry storm. On Sunday afternoon there was an outage near Jefferson Avenue and Oyster Point Road which caused 5,400 homes to lose power for two hours. It was unrelated to the storm. "It was not a real bad situation," said Dan Genest, a spokesman for Dominion Virginia Power.

Note to readers

Some papers were delivered late today, Saturday and Sunday, and carriers were unable to reach some homes. We're proud of what our carriers and employees are achieving under these weather conditions, but we don't want to endanger them. We apologize for any service interruptions.